Late letup leaves Patriots mission minded

From Bill Belichick's curt postgame press conference to the morose feelings that permeated the Patriots' locker room, it felt more like the team had lost instead of defeating the Colts.

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By TIM WEISBERG

southcoasttoday.com

By TIM WEISBERG

Posted Dec. 5, 2011 at 12:01 AM
Updated Dec 5, 2011 at 8:28 AM

By TIM WEISBERG

Posted Dec. 5, 2011 at 12:01 AM
Updated Dec 5, 2011 at 8:28 AM

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FOXBORO — From Bill Belichick's rather curt postgame press conference to the morose feelings that permeated the New England Patriots' locker room, it felt more like the team had lost the game instead of defeating the Indianapolis Colts, 31-24.

Despite all of Belichick's over-inflation of the winless Colts' talents in his comments to the media this week, the truth is this game should not have been that close. This is the same Indy team that had trouble with the Jaguars, Buccaneers, Chiefs and Browns. The same Indy team that lost 62-7 to the New Orleans Saints a little over a month ago. The only real difference has been at the quarterback position. And, really, does journeyman Dan Orlovsky really seem like a savior?

"It's kind of disappointing to be honest with you," New England linebacker Jerod Mayo said. "Even though it's a win and it's hard to win games in the National Football League, at the same time you want to finish so much stronger than that.

"We always talk about how you have to play your best football after Thanksgiving. That's what we are trying to do. Unfortunately, during the fourth quarter today we didn't do that."

For more than a decade, it's been a December to remember in New England. Since 2001, the Patriots are the best team in December, with a cumulative record of 38-5. They've also won eight straight December games, a trend that could easily continue with the likes of Washington, Denver, Buffalo and Miami on the docket.

But if they play late in those games like they did late in this one, it could be a December to dismember any playoff hopes.

"I thought we did some good things out there today," Belichick said. "We've obviously got to do a better job of finishing the game."

It's supposed to be a close one against the Colts, right? Since a 40-21 loss to Indy back in 2005, the last seven games between the two teams have been decided by an average of 4.14 points.

The problem is that these weren't those Colts.

Sure, a lot of the personnel are the same. But without Peyton Manning, the offense has been ineffective this season. The defense has struggled, unaccustomed to playing without a lead. Yet Orlovsky can step in and make them look like Manning's fusion surgery was nothing more than a small pain in the neck?

Sunday, Orlovsky put up Manning-esque numbers, going 30-for-37 with 353 yards, two touchdowns and a 113.2 passer rating. He led the Colts to numbers that look more like they belonged to New England, the AFC's No. 1 offense — 437 total yards, 67 percent efficiency both on third down and in the red zone, and an 11:18 advantage in time of possession.

In the fourth quarter alone, the Colts were 4-for-4 on third-down conversion attempts, held the ball for 7½ minutes more than New England, and scored 21 unanswered points. More than half of their total yardage of the game — 267 yards — came in the final quarter alone.

It wasn't just New England's defense that nearly gave this one up; the offense was absolutely ineffective in the fourth quarter. All they needed was one more score to effectively put a lid on it, and they went three-and-out on each of their three possessions in the final frame.

"We played good for 45 minutes and then didn't do anything offensively in the fourth quarter, so we'll hear about that tomorrow," quarterback Tom Brady said.

It wasn't just the fourth quarter that is a cause for concern; for the third straight week, the Patriots were ineffective early in the game. Once again, it took the other team putting some points on the board to slap the Pats in their collective face and wake them out of a slow start. And for the third straight week, they let a backup quarterback do a little too much damage for comfort.

Still, Sunday's victory put the Patriots at 9-3, guaranteeing them a winning record for the 11th straight year. They're the only NFL team to have recorded nine or more wins in each of the last 11 seasons, and the first to do so since free agency began in 1993. It's lofty territory to be sure, but they're also precariously close to topping out with not many more wins than that. Would 11-5 be enough to give them anything like the least path of resistance in the playoffs? Competing against teams like Pittsburgh and Baltimore (and even Houston and Oakland) for the top spot in the AFC and home-field advantage is going to take more than that.

To make matters worse, the body count is starting to pile up. With injuries to the starting center, the backup center and the backup to the backup center, Nick McDonald was signed off the practice squad Saturday and got the start in his NFL debut. Linebacker Niko Koutouvides made his first start since 2004, and defensive back Nate Jones, who signed with the team in the past week, started at safety.

Wide receiver and special teams captain Matthew Slater made his first start as well — and he did it at safety. He finished the day third in tackles with seven, and also had a forced fumble, seeing quite a bit of playing time.

Maybe some of the vital players who are missing, like safety Patrick Chung, linebackers Dane Fletcher and Brandon Spikes, and offensive linemen Dan Connolly and Sebastian Vollmer, can get healthy enough to start contributing once again. Maybe the cohesion and chemistry of the offensive line, as well as that of the entire defense, can continue to mature over the next four games.

But isn't also just as possible that the bottom could fall out in those areas, further hampering the team? And isn't this the time of year when you try to avoid a late-season dogfight for the playoffs while hoping to build up your team into one that can compete in the postseason?

"We just know that in the end, as a team, we have the talent and the mentality," defensive end Andre Carter said. "We just have to finish strong."

Tim Weisberg covers the New England Patriots for The Standard-Times. Contact him at timweisberg@hotmail.com